Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1887-09-16
The Primary Child.

Investigators into the wonderful nays.
| teries of the mind OF the child are begin
ming to come to the conclusion that the
infants instincts are not confined to those
of low animal range, such as eating
fighting, sleeping and the like; or to that
higher order of operations sometimes
characterized by depraved persons as
general cussedness." 1t is popularity
supposed that the babe has but few in
stincts, and that most of what else goes to
distinguish him from other animal life is
the product of education, heredity, and
civilization. This, it seems, is a mistaken
| view. Psychologists are now disposed to
extend the list of primary instincts so as
to include a wide range of habits and apti-
| tudes. This extension is not an altageth-
er gratifying one for example, in the
current number of the POpUIur Science
MOnhlU Prof William James says that
appropriation, or aquisititivenes SIS in man,
is a primary instinct. lie goes on to Illus
trate this assertion by showing how the
youngest child will snatch, and will al
most invariably organize his infantile
vocabulary with the terms me and mine
The habit of collecting is another case in
2!9 school boys aud found that but 10 of
the whole number had never made colle;-
tons It makes little difference what the
object be which IS collected, it may be
peach pits, or it may be autographs. While
it may give great satisfaction to the philo-
sopher to establish this. habit Of acquisi
tiveness as Il primary instinct, there can
be little pleasure to the moralst in the
thou Ght. There are many children, and
very young ones too, who make cOllec-
tions not only of peach pits but of peaches
as well and who can say where the in
stinct terminates and the crime begins !?
To som e, certainly, this instinct of ap
preparation will seem but pleasant
euphemism for theft.
Another habit which is now introduced
into the latest catalogue of instincts is con-
structiveness The child loves to build {;
his blocks are his chief amusement. Even
If the child displays desire to break OBJ
iects, the philosopher charitably eXonerates
the budding youth by explaining that it is
often done only with desire to recon
struct some new form. The parent who
may be annoyed at the breakage of Il
precious vase Or Waterbury watch--if
the latter he a destructible COMMODITY
should therefore always wait to see if the
child will not display its primary instinct
and seek to construct in some improved
form
Closely allied with this is the instinct
displayed in Stvtge5 to seek for a habltl-
ton sheltered spot open only on one Side
such An Instinct is pronounced to be 4,
specific As the instinct OF birds to build n
nest. All rational beings will doubtless
rejoice that this instinct toward seeking Il
habtation does not include the QueenAnpe
house within its OBJECTS, for this can naid-
ly be said to have an opening on any one
SIDE or If there be one it is difficult to find.
Children also give evidence of pos
sessing this instinct by loving to discover
and appropriate wild places in which
TO " play house"
Once more there is the instinct to play,
in the widest sense of the term. When
child, for instance, tries to get into its
own hand Some object which it sees an
other child pick up, and the latter tries to
get away with the prize, they both are
just as much slaves of an automatic
prompting us are two chickens or fishes,
of which one has taken Il big morsel into
Its mouth and decamped with it while the
other darts oil after it in pursuit"
When the primary child gets on to man
mood lie shows this play instinct in
more elevated form by his love for festivi-
ties, ceremonies, and grand professions.
1t is necessary to use this term in its
broadest sense, 2s has been suggested ;
for there could be 10 propr!ety in saying
hot al, j.,
tude with all mankind. On the contrary
this instinct seems 10 have been but i'm
perfectly developed in some localities as
in the neighborhoCd of Burlington.
AS to how far cleanliness be an instinct
there is considerable doubt. The learned
professor whom we have already quoted
thinks that there can be no doubt that
there are some kinds of matter which are
natively repugnant to the primary child
No one. would say that mud was included
in this class, although it is quite possible
that civilization in this respect may
have deteriorated the original primary
| boy. 1t is likewise question whether
there be fundamental instinct of shame
or modesty. The impulse of modesty seems
to have but very little backbone of its
own" and to be largely the slave of fash
ion. In conflict with the instinct of love,
it is thought there may be found also the
instinct of shyness Their. is also
what the psychologist calls the anti-seXual
instinct or the instinct of personal iso-
lation, though this is rather sporadic
tendency. 1t is impossible, however,
to catalogue farther the long list
of instincts which have recently been dis
covered. There are immense possibilities
III this field of investigation; and it may
be that many persons will yet find that
they are more richly endowed with the
aboriginal primary gifts of nature than
they now suppose.
Italian Politics.
From letter of a special correspondent
to the New York Tribune it appears that